Gilly's Australia Waxes and Oils
Our Bottles
We are proud to say, Gilly’s has made the switch to 100% recycled PET bottles for our 100ml and 250ml oils. This means that no virgin (new) plastic was created to produce these bottles. The recycled plastic is sourced from yellow recycling bins around NSW, creating a circular economy. We believe this is a better option than compostable or so-called biodegradable plastics, which actually need commercially controlled conditions to break down, but can also result in micro-plastics entering our environment and waterways.
We applaud Ant Packaging for providing this option for us and hope that other brands will consider this for their products.
Whilst we have made the step to use this recycled plastic, we all need to do our part to ensure we are recycling what we can - from individuals to corporations. Otherwise, the circular economy will not truly be circular. We encourage you to wash bottles and recycle them again. Our recycled PET plastic is recyclable in all council bins around Australia.
Additional benefits about the plastic bottles from our supplier:
- BPA Free
- Carbon neutral
- 100% recycled
- Australian made
The tins we use for our waxes are made from aluminium, which is another recyclable material. It is one of the most recycled materials in the world and experiences no loss of properties or quality in this process. It also makes for a good looking tin for our waxes, with the added benefit of a screw-top lid for ease of use. Our Tins
As with anything, it will need to be cleaned before placing in a recycling bin. We encourage customers to use as much wax as possible (get it all out!) and clean the tin so it can be recycled.
Cartons
All of our products are placed in cardboard cartons for wholesale and distribution, rather than using any sort of plastic wrapping. We also use cartons for orders placed online. Occasionally for small orders, we will use biodegradable satchels, which we are still not convinced about (as mentioned earlier) - so we will likely keep steering towards using cardboard cartons where we can.
Cardboard is of course an easily recyclable material, and we again encourage the continued recycling of such materials.
Our Labels & Promotional Material
We use a local Perth labelling company Brand Industry Services for our product labels - another environmentally conscious company. They specialise in short-run digital printing, which results in not only higher quality labels, but reduces paper waste found in traditional printing. The same can be said for our promotional materials such as brochures and marketing collateral. The Environmental Printing Company is located just up the road from our factory and prints these for us. They use either recycled paper or sugar cane paper, along with vegetable-based inks. Recently we sourced 100,000 brochures from them, and it is rewarding knowing they were consciously made with the environment in mind.
Other
We try to look at sustainable options for all facets of business, no matter how small they may be. Recycled paper is used in the office, and we refill most of our ink cartridges rather than buying new ones - which would otherwise contribute to plastic waste. Chances are if it can be recycled, or if we can purchase any recycled materials - we’re onto it!
All the packaging materials we receive from suppliers are reused if possible, for when we send out orders ourselves. A request for our tin supplier was that they are only to use paper or cardboard in the packaging of our tins, saving a huge amount of polystyrene from otherwise being produced.
Products
All of our product recipes are based on natural ingredients. We use a large amount of beeswax and carnauba wax, both high-quality natural waxes for our purpose. Admittedly there is still a portion of paraffin and microcrystalline waxes used in some products, as some of our products are based on traditional recipes (Gilly was given by a friend) that date back over 170 years. We are becoming more environmentally aware, however, and where we can, we have substituted certain ingredients after quality comparisons and testing. Whilst some of these ingredients are completely natural, they are from non-renewable origins. They have necessary properties for certain applications, but we will endeavour to make appropriate replacements where we can. You can also be sure, that when we make any natural claims - we are referring to renewable ingredients.
Our oils are a proud point, with some of them moving to 100% natural formulas many years ago. This is with the use of local plant oils, citrus solvents and essential oils that give them the beautiful aroma customers have come to love. From the waxes, our Food Safe Wax also boasts being 100% natural, a great alternative to some of the traditional waxes. Along with looking at being more natural, we have also responded to changing customer demands by increasing the number of food-safe lines on offer. Our Orange Oil has been food safe since 1993!
We have never used silicone in any of our products. Not only is it unnatural, it provides a short term fix for application and becomes a nightmare when it damages and requires stripping back.
Where we can, we will utilise local companies to source our raw materials. For example, our Orange Oil uses Australian citrus and plant oils. Our beeswax is a mix of local West Australian beeswax and imported beeswax. Why import any of it? There is a huge export market for our local beeswax and unfortunately, there are only a couple of local suppliers providing reasonable prices to us.
Some ingredients such as carnauba wax, tung oil and natural turpentine, are derived from trees that simply aren’t grown in Australia. Carnauba wax comes from a tree that is only grown in Brazil! Again, as we progress further in this business, we will always be looking at opportunities to source locally. This leaves a smaller carbon footprint and helps to support other Australian businesses.
